Karachi, October 1: Pakistan has roped in Australia-based David Hemp as head coach of the national women's team which has seen a regular change of guard at the helm of affairs in the last few years.

The Pakistan Cricket Board said on Thursday that Hemp was appointed after a robust and transparent recruitment process in which a number of foreign and local qualified candidates had taken part in. Also Read | Lionel Messi vs Cristiano Ronaldo Showdown Emerges After Barcelona, Juventus Placed in Same Group in UCL 2020-21 Draw, Fans Excited to Witness Football Stars’ Clash Against Each Other.

Hemp, who turns 50 next week, has previously coached the Melbourne Stars' and Victorian women's cricket teams in Australia's Women's Big Bash League between 2015 and 2020, and is also a former Bermuda and Glamorgan captain.

With 271 first-class matches under his belt in which he scored over 15,000 runs for Glamorgan, Free State and Warwickshire, Hemp is expected to improve the rankings of the Pakistan women's team which has now gone without any cricket for nearly a year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Also Read | Kevin de Bruyne, Manuel Neuer, Joshua Kimmic Walk Away With UEFA Awards 2019-20.

Hemp, who also represented Bermuda in 22 one-day internationals from 2006 to 2009, is a qualified UK level four coach and the second foreigner after New Zealand's Mark Coles to be appointed head coach of the Pakistani women's team.

Coles, who enjoyed considerable success with the women's team, left abruptly last year due to some family issues. Before Coles and since his departure, the PCB has tried out a number of Pakistani coaches, including former Test players, Basit Ali, Kabir Khan and others like Sabih Azhar, Iqbal Imam etc.

"David brings with him wealth of experience and knowledge, more importantly around women's cricket development, which is extremely critical to our strategy as part of our endeavour to increase the pool of cricketers and also help them top rise to the level of the front-running international sides," Urooj Mumtaz, Acting Head of Pakistan Women's Wing and Chair of women's selection committee, was quoted as saying in a press release.

"David has worked for five years in Australia with the Melbourne and Victoria women's sides and he is a perfect fit for the role we were looking for as he will be able to use that experience and knowledge to translate into our system that will ultimately benefit Pakistan women's cricket.

"I am sure our players will make optimum use of David's expertise and strict work ethics, while I am sure David will have an enjoyable time when he relocates to Pakistan to join the elite company of illustrious coaching staff of Atiq-uz-Zaman, Grant Bradburn, Mohammad Yousuf, Mohammad Zahid and Saqlain Mushtaq at our National High Performance Centre."

David takes over from Iqbal Imam, who had succeeded Mark Coles. Pakistan will feature in the ICC Women's World Cup Qualifier next year for the event proper that will take place in New Zealand in 2022.

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